Summing up our lives in seven easy titles

Published: Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 04:32 PM.

Online social media encourages us to sum up who are and what we do, often in a limited number of keystrokes. And it’s gauche to just be one thing.

I’ve learned by living in the South that what you do isn’t necessarily who you are. It may seem natural, upon meeting someone new, to keep the conversation going by asking the other person what they do.

This is appropriate at a networking event, but at a barbecue or other laid-back encounter it doesn’t quite fit. So I ask people where they are from. Southerners, after all, are in tune with home, with a sense of place.

Plus, these days too many of us are unemployed. It might make someone feel awkward if they are looking for work and this complete stranger is asking him what he does for a living.

Online, though, you’re supposed to cut to the chase. Here’s a great example from an e-mail I received last week. I won’t name this woman, lest she think I am poking fun.

Such and such is a “writer, public speaker, motivator, health activist, herbalist, single mother, and successful entrepreneur.”

Online social media encourages us to sum up who are and what we do, often in a limited number of keystrokes. And it’s gauche to just be one thing.

I’ve learned by living in the South that what you do isn’t necessarily who you are. It may seem natural, upon meeting someone new, to keep the conversation going by asking the other person what they do.

This is appropriate at a networking event, but at a barbecue or other laid-back encounter it doesn’t quite fit. So I ask people where they are from. Southerners, after all, are in tune with home, with a sense of place.

Plus, these days too many of us are unemployed. It might make someone feel awkward if they are looking for work and this complete stranger is asking him what he does for a living.

Online, though, you’re supposed to cut to the chase. Here’s a great example from an e-mail I received last week. I won’t name this woman, lest she think I am poking fun.

Such and such is a “writer, public speaker, motivator, health activist, herbalist, single mother, and successful entrepreneur.”

That’s a lot of stuff. And that doesn’t even tell me where she is from. Or who her momma is.

It makes sense, though. The way we work is changing. Doing 40 years with one company doing one job seems like a distant memory.

More and more, we’re going to have to have multiple jobs to survive. We’re going to have to create our own jobs to match our skills. We’re going to have to figure out how to make money with the skills we have, independent of an employer.

I guess it’s in my nature to make a joke out of the online identity thing, preferring to list “turn-ons” rather than 14 different quasi-occupations. But if I ever change my mind, maybe I should start sorting out my list.

Editor — Edit? Do I ever. Here and at home.

Writer — Write? Do I ever. I love it almost as much as I hate it.

Photographer — My first newspaper job involved four days as a reporter and one as a photographer. Today, I still take photos that we use at the Times-News. I also take photos at home when instructed by my head of household.

Educator — Well, I do teach my kids.

Volunteer — Hey, I do that, too.

Advocate — I have certain causes I believe in, and if any of you ever get stuck in an enclosed space with me you are liable to have to listen to me talk about them.

Public speaker — I do speak in public sometimes. I’m better at it than I used to be.

Entrepreneur — Read these online profiles and you see this one used probably more than any other. We’ve got a lot of entrepreneurs these days. I suppose some have actually started businesses, others may have done something as simple as make a donation to a Kickstarter fund.

Parent — Am I ever. All hours of the day.

Son, brother, friend — Assuming these people will still claim me, yes.

Thought leader — Sometimes these things get into goofy territory.

Idea merchant — See above.

Stake holder — Can be about anyone with a pulse, near as I can tell.

Brand ambassador — They pay me to wear this shirt because I am attractive.

Heck, all of us are a lot more than one thing, and it seems to me that there is more to us than just titles.

City editor Brent Lancaster can be reached at blancaster@thetimesnews.com or 336-506-3040.